Founder's words
Shalom and welcome,
The Israeli Protection Center was established with the goal of addressing and reducing the cases of sexual violence across all domains of Israeli society.
The Center is committed to promoting a broad, systemic response that integrates legal, therapeutic, and community-based approaches to create a sense of safety within the
community.
In recent years, there has been a shift in people’s response to issues relating to sexual abuse, as this issue is exposed by social media and other channels of communication. Israeli society has begun to recognize that sexual violence is a social issue that affects women and men across all sectors. More people are now speaking out and challenging the silence. With this shift, shame and secrecy are slowly giving way to awareness, support, and healing.
Against this backdrop, and through the relationships built by our team within marginalized communities, and with the experience we’ve gained over the years, we are committed to continuing to break the silence surrounding harm. We work directly with vulnerable populations across Israeli society, including Haredi, Arab, Ethiopian ,Kibbutzim and other .
Our work Is based on two pillars:
1. Providing individualized support and accompaniment for survivors and their families through a 360° informed, community-based model.
2. Creating a Safer Environment through professional training offered to law enforcement and programs for the enhancement of safer communities to educational professionals, parents, children, and other members of the community . These programs are advanced, adjacent to academic research and public policy, including proposed legislation like the “Training Law,” which would require all education, mental health, and medical professionals to be trained in preventing and responding to sexual abuse. This law is intended to obligate all educational, welfare, and medical staff to receive training on the subject of identity, vulnerability, and protection against sexual abuse. The center sees its mission as strengthening awareness on the matter, based on the understanding that sexual assault is the murder of the soul. As has already been stated in classical sources, in the case of the rape of a young girl, the Talmud says: “Just as when a man rises up against another and kills him—so is this matter .”Survivors deserve to live with dignity, with regards to both levels of care and their interaction with law enforcement.
I would like to end my remarks with a quote from one of the survivors:
"I open my eyes every morning to die anew."
Rabbi Asher Melamed,
Founder & CEO, The IPC
